Compact external battery cabinet questions

[matthew]

I have a customer in a wilderness area. They don't have access to the main power grid, so use solar/batteries/inverters and generator for power. They have an external battery pack with 2x 7.2AH batteries running a Compact with AMIX4/8/4 & AA/HDD, 1x 4039,3x 4029. We're in our summer, with lots of rain and cloudy days, so their own power supply seems to run low. The Alcatel is powering down frequently as the batteries drain and and don't seem to be getting a good recharge. At the time the pabx powers down, the customer still has other services working such as lights and computers. The only way they can get the pabx to power back up is to start and run the generator for a while. Needless to say, during sunny weather they don't seem to have any problems.

I'm curious about what input voltage the Alcatel battery pack decides to transition from using input power to using battery power? We use 240V here in Australia. I'd also be interested in suggestions for solutions. I can only imagine that a UPS would be susceptible to the same problem - low input voltage continually draining the battery and giving low run times.

[murraya]

interesting, you may need to source a larger capacity battery that holds a better charge. Can you charge a battery from anoter source? i.e charge the 12v cells directly from a solar pannel instead of via 240v which requies more power due to step up (this causes losses due to power transformations). I'm sure such products can be sourced locally for the outback.

[enio.eltz]

Hi Mattehw

Very interesting this situation.

They have an external battery pack with 2x 7.2AH batteries running a Compact

Are these batteries connected directly to compact rack? If yes, in this case these batteries aren't enough to keep OXO running. Linux is always looking for the tension of the batteries, when they are with about 11V, Linux shutdown. At least it is what I know.
In your case you need a power supply with power batteries that gives 240V for compact rack.

Regards.